My year in books, 2020

Inspired by threads on Reddit, this is My year in books, 2020. I listen to most of my books. Or I listen to all of my fiction books, at least. I listen to books mostly when driving to and from work, going for a walk, going to sleep or doing menial tasks around the house or garden.

The genres I prefer are mostly fantasy, science fiction and crime. I listened to 46 books in 2020.

Fantasy

What really stood out, fantasy-wise, for me in the books I listened to in 2020 was The Highwayman by R.A. Salvatore, Kings of the Wylde by Nicholas Eames, The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington and The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter.

A special shout out to Joe Abercrombie for the second book in the Age of Madness Trilogy. He really delivers! His books also have great re-read value. If possible, his writing style keeps improving and surprising. In the middle of combat he changes the point of view from one fighter to his opponent giving a broader feel of the fight. He has a light sarcastic tone. I love the world and the story, but his style keeps me interested!

Kings of the Wylde was also a very good story. There was something nostalgic about these old friends getting back together and fighting again. The world is also very interesting where the new generation has a whole new idea of what a band is.

This category's big let down was the Ascendant trilogy by Craig Alanson. Nobody out there can tell me that they don't like Tim Gerard Reynolds. He is in my top 5 of narrators and I would probably listen to a book just because of him. However, this book was a giant let down. It is misunderstanding after misunderstanding. Nobody learns from their mistakes. The main character is the strongest wizard the world has ever seen and we get to see him "fight" with magic 2 times in a trilogy of 46+ hours.

Science Fiction

This category also contains some letdowns. I read The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. I love the romantic idea that Asimov have about the future - but in the end his series was quite boring. I felt you never really got to learn much about the characters because we skip so much time.

Timothy Zahn with a new Thrawn book - who wouldn't be super hyped for the first instalment of the new Thrawn Ascendency? I think I was too hyped because Thrawn already have a great trilogy in the Thrawn Trilogy and this really didn't do it justice! It was with a sad heart that I realized I probably will not listen to book two and three in this trilogy.